Ellen and the Blue Robin
by AllShadesOfGreen
Summary: (Entry for Accidentally The Whole Prompt) Ellen found an injured bird one autumn day, and she reminisces about everything it has taught her. (Another summary flunked XD)


Ellen and the Blue Robin

Ellen sighed. The elderly woman looked around with her blurry vision, and she could see a multitude of colors swirling around in the air. She did not know of what those colors could be with her impaled sight, but she could remember. The cold wind blew against her face, and she could hear the crunching of the leaves on the brick pavement as a blonde girl walked towards her house.

"Hello Ms. Claire!" Ellen heard her 7-year old grandson shout at the expected presence of the blonde girl, followed by the warm welcome her granddaughter loved to give.

"Good Morning, Claire. It's so nice of you to visit us. Normally only the mayor and Sasha come to see us." Ellen could almost see her granddaughter's kind smile. Almost, but at least she knew she could still imagine Elli.

"I'm happy to be here too." Claire's reply came in a soft voice, just barely loud enough for Ellen to hear.

"Make yourself at home," Elli told the blonde. Ellen could imagine Claire's golden head nod.

As the three people stay inside to chat, the elderly woman stayed outside in the cool air. The wind never stopped blowing against her white apron, and her strands continued flying along.

It was already fall at Mineral Town, and it was the favorite season too. The harvest is at its most plentiful during the autumn, and the villagers were always happy to have something to keep them busy. Critters were a common sight in the cool days of autumn, and Ellen's bird-friend Tweeters is preparing for the long migration south. She was sad to see Tweeters go, of course, but in order for the bird to survive the harsh winter, it had to go.

Ellen glanced at the tree she sat next to, and she can see her bird busily bustling about, but singing a merry tune as it does.

'Tweeters' feathers look a bit frazzled,' thought Ellen. 'No matter, I can just help him preen them afterwards,' the woman stifled a chuckle. 'He was like that the day I found him too, ah yes,'

 _Flashback, two years ago_

" _Grandma, I'm going to work now!" Elli hollered over her shoulder as she exited through the house's front door._

" _Have a great day, darling," Ellen replied to her granddaughter._

" _Yeah Sis, have fun with Mr. Doctor today!" Stu had followed his grandmother's calling. Waving happily to Elli, the young boy grinned widely. Elli giggled a bit, before disappearing into the streets of Mineral Town._

 _Stu turned to his grandmother, eyes shining with glee. "Grandma, can I go and play with May today?" he asked. Ellen chuckled._

" _Of course you can, dear. Could you help me get outside first? I can tell that the air out is pretty fresh," she told him._

 _Stu agreed, and while he helped his grandmother walk towards their porch, he also has one hand behind him, dragging Ellen's rocking chair. It always went like this whenever Ellen wanted to go outside, but on some occasions it was Elli carrying the chair on Wednesdays._

 _As they went out on their porch, the cool air of autumn greeted and welcomed them with open arms. Colors immediately made themselves present in their eyesight._

" _Bye Grandma!" Stu bade good-bye after making sure that Ellen was safely seated in her rocking chair. She raised her frail hand to wave after her grandson, though he was already out of sight to see her gesture._

 _Several minutes had passed, and Ellen had her eyes closed, allowing the wind blow against her blue dress._

 _Suddenly, she heard a crack behind her. Mildly startled- but frightened nonetheless- she turned her head at the direction of the sound. Ellen's lips curled into a kind smile when she saw what it was that had caused the sound._

 _It was a bird- a blue robin to be exact. Its feathers were scruffy and stuck out in several directions. Its black eyes had a tired expression. Chirping cautiously, the bird took a look at its wings. Ellen was quite shocked when she saw that one of its wings was broken. The bird preened the feathers on the injured wing in a sad manner,_

 _Out of the overwhelming kindness pouring from Ellen's tender heart, she tried to stand up and walk towards the bird, despite the illness that had made it difficult for her to even stand up. With every step being a struggle for the senior, she cautiously approached the robin._

" _Oh, poor thing, are you hurt?" she cooed. The bird, startled out of its wits, staggered back until it fell on its bottom. "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you," Ellen said as she outstretched her hand at the blue robin._

 _The blue robin must have been very scared, for it had stared at Ellen's frail hand for quite a while, before it finally hopped itself on to it._

 _Ellen smiled wider. She ran one finger on its head comfortingly, and the robin had enjoyed it. "See? Nothing to be afraid of," She said as she continued to preen it._

 _End Flashback_

After Stu returned home, he and Ellen tended to the bird's wounds. If Ellen had thought that the bird would fly away as soon as it was fixed, then she was mistaken. The robin took a liking to the elderly woman who had helped him, and decided to stay; except for the months where the cold winter had to take over.

Winter was now a few months closer, and over the last few weeks of summer, Tweeters had already planned out his schedule to leave. He was sorry to leave Ellen, but somewhere in his heart he knew that he when he returns in spring, Ellen would be there waiting for him.

Ellen knew this, so over the three years the blue robin came into her life, she fought hard to stay alive. She wouldn't want Tweeters to be lonely when he comes back now, will she?

Sighing again, she rested in her chair.

Ellen then heard the click of a door, and she saw her granddaughter, Elli, standing with Claire by her side. "Oh, Grandma are you resting? I'm sorry to disturb your sleep," Elli quickly apologized. Smiling kindly, Ellen shook her head.

"No Elli, you didn't disturb me," she told Elli, who was evidently relieved. Ellen then turned to Claire. "Good Afternoon Claire, what brings you here?"

"Oh, um, nothing Grandma, I just thought I'd visit, take a break from the farm," Claire replied. Ellen remembered, Claire moved in at the old farm (well, it wasn't old anymore) the same year Tweeters came into her life.

"That's very kind of you, dear." Ellen smiled again. Claire nodded.

"I'll go inside for a bit, I'll be right back." Elli told them both.

"Of course," Ellen said to her granddaughter as she slipped inside, leaving the farmer in Ellen's midst. "It's quite a lovely day, isn't it?" she asked the blonde.

"I agree, though here is much better than the farm," Claire replied. "How is Tweeters?"

Tweeters made himself known when Claire first visited Elli's family. At first, Claire was a bit shocked when the bird swooped down on her head, thinking it was a bird's nest. But soon enough, Claire got used to the occasional nestling.

"Fine, getting ready for winter, is all," Ellen gestured to the blue robin, which had not stopped its continuous bustling about. "I remember the first time he departed south; it was at the very edge of autumn, very cold day it was."

"I'd like to hear more, if you don't mind." Claire prompted for the elder to continue. Ellen was surprised; normally it was only Elli who would sit through her stories, but smiled as soon as she spoke.

"I wouldn't mind. Well, as I have said before, it was a very cold day. The day after that was the first day of winter, so Tweeters needed to go that day or he wouldn't have gone at all. Birds can't fly in the cold of winter, you know. The wind would've thrown Tweeters off his track- I dread to think about what might have happened to him if that was the case.

"On that day, I had doubted if Tweeters was going to come back to me in spring. I didn't know if he had a family of his own in the south- wishing for him to come back was tearing him apart from his family if he had any. Stu had grown attached to Tweeters, and I won't forget the tears that fell from his cheeks when we had to say good-bye. May was with us that day, too. She played with Tweeters along with Stu when the days were perfect for laughing. Elli had to buy a new box of tissues from the supermarket by the time Tweeters had already left." Ellen chuckles a bit as she recalled the memory.

"And what about you? Did you cry too?" Claire asked her, and stops short as she realizes what she just said. "I'm sorry,"

"It's fine. I did cry, along with Stu and May. It was mostly my fault that Elli had to buy those tissues." her chuckle turns into a light laugh, and she turns her head to the side to see Tweeters.

The blonde farmer nodded in understanding. She knew for a fact that it was Ellen who had rescued the blue robin, and she knows as well as Ellen how hard it was for someone to let go, even if it was only for a season.

Ellen continued her story. "When spring came and the new flowers sprouted from the ground, the birds came back to Mineral Town. Tweeters was one of them. We all cried and jumped for joy when he came back, fluttering into Elli's hands. Turns out he didn't have a family in the south, but he has a family here in town at least, and that was us." Elli closed her story with a fond smile.

Claire had been listening intently to Ellen throughout her story about Tweeters's first departure, and now understands Ellen and her relationship with her pet robin. She smiles along with the senior. "You and Tweeters sure went a long way since three years ago. I can see how suck a simple act of kindness can forge a strong bond between people," Claire said.

"Is that so?" Ellen closed her eyes, and concentrated on feeling the air that blew against her.

"At least, that was what my mind could process after hearing your story," Claire replies, watching the fiery colors of the leaves fly.

"I must say, you have a very strong connection with animals yourself, knowing this." The older woman chuckled. Claire follows her lead.

"I guess so," she says, staring off into the distance. "I love all the animals in my farm, especially Peach." The farmer smiled at the mention of her dog.

Peach was, as far as the mayor had told Ellen, Claire's dog. Since being abandoned as a puppy by its former owner, Peach had become distrustful and bitter towards anyone who had come by the farm when it had been abandoned, until Claire came. Claire loved dogs, only the apartment she lived in before moving didn't allow dogs. Free of the apartment rules the landlord found appropriate, Claire tried her best to melt the puppy's- now grown dog- heart. She now lives with dealing with the saliva Peach washes over her face each morning.

"I can only imagine how many soap you need to get from the supermarket each season," Ellen said playfully. Claire groans.

"You're telling me, it's getting harder to wash off the slobber he gives me," she replies, smirking, and then giggling a little as Elli came back outside.

"I've got some French toast, would you like some, Claire?" Elli asked the blonde, and in turn Claire nods.

"Thank you Elli! You know how much I love your toast," Claire says as she took a bite out of a slice of buttered bread. "Still as heavenly as last time, of course,"

Ellie giggled as she turns to her grandmother. "I brought tea for you, Grandma." She said as she poured hot water unto a teacup.

"Thank you, dear." Ellen gratefully took the teacup from Elli's hands, and took a little sip. "Would you be so kind to feed Tweeters? I'm sure he's a little hungry from all the preparation he's been doing." She gestured to the blue robin, which had not stopped tweeting since Ellen last acknowledged her. Elli nods and strolls over to the birdhouse she and Stu had built for Tweeters three years ago. She smiles kindly upon the bird.

"Hi Tweeters," she said. Tweeters chirped back in response, nuzzling its head affectionately against Elli's hand. Ellen watches from a distance and smiles brightly as her granddaughter continues to show her love to the bird. Elli loves Tweeters just as much as Ellen does, and doesn't fail to show her love for it every day, like she was doing now.

Claire watches too, though she was less intrigued than Ellen was. She simply smiles upon the sweet scene between her friend and the bird.

"I'll sure miss him when he's gone," Ellen says, resting herself against the comforts of her rocking chair. "But I know he'll be back in the spring- I just don't know if I'll last long enough for him to come back." She sighs sadly.

"Grandma, please don't be like that, he hasn't even left yet," Elli frowns at her grandmother for saying such a thing. "And you haven't either."

Tweeters, knowing through his senses that his master was sad, flew up to the old woman's shoulder, and nuzzled his blue head against her to try and provide comfort. Ellen rubs a hand against its own body.

"Grandma, you wouldn't want Tweeters to be sad when he comes home to find you gone, now, would you? You wouldn't want us getting sad either- right?" Claire offers her opinion and retaliation against the thought of Ellen being gone.

"I heavily agree with Claire, please focus on being alive first," Elli could swear that she had tears threatening to fall out because of her grandmother's words. Ellen's eyes twinkled with love at the two young women in front of her.

"Oh dear, I really wouldn't want that. Don't cry now, Elli darling," Ellen says, still rubbing her hand against Tweeters. "I'll not be going anywhere anytime soon." She smiles.

The autumn sun smiled as well, witnessing every moment that had occurred underneath its loving light. Its relative, the autumn wind, continued blowing against everyone it came across. The leaves still continued flying in it. And until the night comes, it won't stop.

Just like how Ellen won't stop living for the lives she won't ever dare to leave.

 **THE END**

 **Author's Note: This is my entry for Accidentally The Whole Fanfic's Accidentally The Whole Prompt. I know it sucks, but in my opinion this was my best shot. I can accept flames for now, but only because I still have too much to live for.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. All credits go to Natsume (WOO GO NATSUMEEE).**


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